Chamchamal

Chamchamal (Kurdish: چه‌مچه‌ماڵ, romanized: Çemçemal,^[1][2] Arabic: جمجمال) is a town located in Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Kurdistan Region, Iraq. it is the town which is nearest located to the disputed territories of Northern Iraq. Chamchamal is home to the Gorani-speaking Hamawand tribe.^[3]

Chamchamal Çemçemal
Town
چەمچەماڵ
Chamchamal
Coordinates: 35°32′0″N 44°50′0″E
Country	Iraq
Autonomous region	Kurdistan Region
Province	Sulaymaniyah Governorate
Population  (2024)
• Total	173,000

Population and location

The city is a 30 minutes drive east from Kirkuk and an hour west of Sulaymaniyah.^[4] The population was 58,000 in 2003.^[4] The population in 2018 was 65,300 people, the vast majority being Kurds.

History

The city has a historic citadel, and early Western observers of the region speculated that it has been inhabited since the Sassanid period.^[5] The Chamchamal valley is also home to important paleolithic sites of Jarmo and Zarzi.^[6] The city broke away from Kirkuk in 1976 and was given to Sulaymaniyah.

Map of Kirkuk in 1936 including chamchamal

Climate

Climate data for Chamchamal
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	10.3 (50.5)	12.2 (54.0)	16.6 (61.9)	22.6 (72.7)	30.1 (86.2)	36.7 (98.1)	40.4 (104.7)	40.2 (104.4)	36.2 (97.2)	29.5 (85.1)	20.1 (68.2)	13.0 (55.4)	25.7 (78.2)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	1.3 (34.3)	2.5 (36.5)	6.0 (42.8)	10.6 (51.1)	15.8 (60.4)	21.3 (70.3)	24.6 (76.3)	24.7 (76.5)	20.3 (68.5)	14.9 (58.8)	8.6 (47.5)	3.3 (37.9)	12.8 (55.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	126 (5.0)	104 (4.1)	108 (4.3)	60 (2.4)	29 (1.1)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	0 (0)	5 (0.2)	47 (1.9)	86 (3.4)	565 (22.2)
Source: Climate-data.org

Notable people

• Thanun Pyriadi (born 1933), chemist, from Ali Mansour village

See also

• Garmekan (Sasanian province located in modern-day Kurdistan Region of Iraq)
• Garmian Region
• Beth Garmai